Quiet Time and reflections

One of the things I missed most when I was working full time was the absolute luxury of spending large quantities of time in God's word.  It is true that we can make our personal worship time a priority, arrange our schedule so that quiet time comes first.  But in the midst of deadlines, pressures from both of us working, etc., that time often seemed superficial to me.  God was always faithful...He reminded me today in Isaiah 47:16-18 I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.  I will not accuse forever, nor will I alwys be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me - the breath of man that I have created.  I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.  I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, creating praise....I love the complexity, yet simplicity of God.  He loves us so much!  However, there is indeed warning in the scriptures about being too comfortable in our sin.  He goes on to say in 59:4 Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please...your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fasts.  You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high...is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:  to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter...These truths in the old testament are mirrored in the new testament in James 2:20 But are you willing to recognize that faith without works is useless?  James goes on to say in 3:13-18 Who among you is wise and understanding?  Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.  And the seed whose fruit is righteousnbess is sown in peace by those who make peace.  Which brings me to the emphasis of this post; namely to try to wrap my head around the beauty of Revelations, furthering the idea of the "wisdom from above" as mentioned in James.  I've studied this book so many times from so many different perspectives, but never had the fruits drawn from it as I have in the Beth Moore study "Here and Now...There and Then".  You have to buckle up and hang on in this study.  Anyone who has ever attended a Beth Moore conference knows the sheer freight-train energy of this woman.  She plows through Revelations
like Lance Armstrong cycling up a 65 degree hill...it isn't easy, but the force propelling him upward is tangible, a force to be reckoned with.  Before I go into any detail about the Throne Room of God, let me emphasize that in the early chapters of Revelations the reader is challenged to find out which of the seven representative churches we are.  Which one do we live like?  To each one he first compliments them for something they are doing right.  Then he asks them to heed his warning about what they are doing wrong.  The one I was most convicted by was the church of Ephesus.  In verse four he says But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place - unless you repent.....To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.  I will not attempt to give scholarly interpretation here; only to reflect on my personal conviction, which is that I have put other idols before God.  As the evangelist Tony Evans says, "Anything you place above God; work, children, family, possessions, etc., is an idol".  And how does one retrieve that first love?  The image throughout the new testament is to become like a child (Matthew 18:3).  This indicates a pure, simple faith.  Rev. 2:4 also refers to a lost passion.  Am I more passionate about directing a play, visiting my children, reading a book, traveling with my husband, exercising, or countless other things than I am about spending time with my Father?  I think I just answered that question.  Now on to the Throne room of God which casts a huge shadow on the pleasures of this world...in other words, dwelling on the indescribable beauty of God makes anything here on earth pale in comparison.  The setting is this...John has been taken up with the spirit to the throne room of Heaven.  Of course, no one has SEEN God; if he did look, he would die.  Everything that surrounds God is described, but not God Himself.  Descriptions now in bullet points: 

• First thing John sees is a throne.


• God is sitting on the throne...can't SEE God, just what he was "LIKE" and He was LIKE Jasper stone, pictured above and Sardius stone, pictured below the Jasper http://gemstonestojewels.net/default.aspx
• The link above is called Jemstones to Jewels and is a great reference to what the gems used in the Old Testament were symbolic of or used for. 
• Then there was a rainbow around the throne.  That's another story for another time.  You can imagine the connection to other 'rainbow' references.  You'll have to attend this bible study to discover the connections with the Flood.
• Around the throne were 24 thrones upon which sat 24 elders clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads.  Another story for another time.
• Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.  Picture it! 
• 7 lamps of fire were burning around the throne...the 7 churches.
• Before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal.  Don't have time or space to go into this one, but was it ever fun!  Imagine your sins trapped underneath that sea of glass, never to be heard from again..or the visual Beth Moore gave was once we confess our sins, God is taking those sins and throwing them against that sea of glass and they are NO MORE.  She was so funny talking about how she alone keeps God so busy destorying her sins..
• In the center around the throne four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind; one like a lion; one like a calf; one like a man; and one like a flying eagle.  This is all imagery, metaphorical...but I don't have time to dissect.
• These creatures day and night DO NOT CEASE saying "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who WAS and IS and IS TO COME. 
• The Elders constantly fall down and say "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for YOU created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.
• In the right hand of God John saw a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. 
• An angel was proclaiming "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals"?
• No one was worthy.
• John begins to weep because no one was worthy.
• One of the elders says "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.
• John sees a Lamb standing, as if slain.  Here is where I begin to weep!
• The Lamb takes the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
• When HE takes the book, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fall down before the lamb.

NOW HERE is what BLOWS my mind:

• Each one of the elders and the four living creatures are holding GOLDEN BOWLS FULL OF INCENSE, WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS...cross reference with Psalm 141:2 - May my prayer be counted as incense before you.  This means that all the prayers of all my life are held in Heaven answered in His most perfect timing.  That sister I have been praying for all my life; those financial needs; those family needs, those health needs.  They are ALL THERE! 
• The rest of the verses deal with praising Jesus for what he did and exalting the Lamb.

Scripture takes my breath away!